Man in 70s foils Thurlow Champness Rolex robbery

A watch robbery at Thurlow Champness in Bury St Edmunds was foiled by a man in his 70s who stepped in to intervene after witnessing the raid while passing the store.

The robbery took place at Thurlow Champness in February but the case has come to court in Ipswich this week.

The court heard how 71-year-old Michael Graver ran into Thurlow Champness to confront a robber who was armed with a sledgehammer and part of a gang of four that used scooters to ram open the door of the shop.

Story continues below

Advertisement

The robber tried to push past Graver to get out of the shop and Graver tried to grab onto his arm. The robber was wearing a nylon jacket so Graver failed to get a good grip of his arm but he did manage to get hold of the bag full of Rolex watches worth £22,000 that the thief was trying to escape with and forced him to drop in order to flee the scene.

Graver told the court that he did not feel threatened during his heroic act that led to all of the watches being returned to Thurlow Champness, and added that he believed the robber was more interested in getting away from the scene than hurting him.